Third Unit Joins Wastewater Treatment Plant in Lordegan

The third wastewater treatment plant in Lordegan, western Chaharmahal- Bakhtiari Province, was inaugurated, provincial head of the Water and Wastewater Company said.
“The facility treats 6,000 cubic meters of effluent a day and cost $4 million,” IRNA quoted Ahmadreza Mohammadi Dahcheshmeh as saying.
The plant is built over three hectares, including a 90-km pipeline to collect sewage. Work began in 2005 but was plagued by financial constraints and barely registered 10% work in progress by the end of 2013. Operations to complete the plant restarted in 2015 after funds were made available by the Energy Ministry.
The new plant will help preserve at least 2 million cubic meters of underground water a year and optimize wastewater for agriculture as reclaimed wastewater is normally used for farming.  
“The plant will provide services to more than 10,000 households.” So far 65% of the residents are connected to the wastewater network.
It uses activated sludge (AS) method to process sewage.  AS consist of three main components namely an aeration tank, a settling tank and a return activated sludge. 
Based on Energy Ministry data, 221 wastewater treatment plants are operating in Iran (annual output of 1.2 billion cubic meters), of which 52 became operational in the past seven years.
According to Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian, total wastewater treatment capacity in 2013 was 400 million cubic meters per day via 150 treatment facilities.  That capacity, which involves a network spanning 11,000 kilometers, has tripled.
“So far 66,000 km of wastewater pipelines have been laid across the country and 295 cities are connected to the rapidly expanding system. Out of the total urban population, 57% have access to the wastewater network -- up 8.4% since 2013. “
Over 7.5 bcm of usable water namely grey water is annually produced in Iran, of which less than 25% is recycled.